Buy This Old Mafia File, Found in a New York City Taxi, For $10,000

June 22, 2011

An old Mafia file found in a black bag in the back of a New York City cab in the early ’90s containing mug shots, criminal histories, lists of associates, kids’ and wives’ names, and the favorite hangouts of 843 Mafia members in the ’50s and ’60s — a trove of fascinating historical information for the Mafia buff — is up for auction at Bonhams today as part of their “Fine Books and Manuscripts” listing. It’s a departure from the leather-bound first editions you might expect, cased in a “black cloth binder with tabs, title stamped in green to upper cover.” Its 844 pages have been thumbed.

According to the lot detail:

This book, one of a limited number produced for official use only, contains the names of over 800 men believed by the U.S. Treasury department to be active members of the Mafia syndicate during the 1950s and early 1960s. The book is organized by state; each entry includes the name, aliases, description, localities frequented, family connections and criminal associates of the suspected criminal, along with a photograph and a general description of their modus operandi. Mickey Cohen, Frank Colombo, Meyer Lansky, Joseph Bonanno, Paul Castellano, Frank Costello, Carlo Gambino, Sam Giancana, and Lucky Luciano appear, among others.

The pre-sale estimate for the binder, which was compiled by the United States Treasury Department Bureau of Narcotics (Robert F. Kennedy may have consulted a copy during the McClennan Hearings), is $10,000 to $15,000.